"I've also heard that the hybrids can be hot, which
is worrisome, but I wonder how much that depends on what they cross
with.
Anyone have any experience along those lines?"
Some years ago, I accepted the gift of a New Zealand Italian queen in
order to 'improve' my stock of local mongrels. They soon filled 2
brood boxes and 3 supers and had a bee beard in front of the hive.
They were as docile as flies. They produced a crop of queen cells
which I harvested to re-queen some of my other colonies of local
mongrels. They did produce a reasonable crop of honey but ate their
heads off in the winter (that was back in the days when I fed bees).
The colonies that I requeened, having crossed with the local stock,
became very bad tempered and it was about 5 years before I could
restore the temperament of the bees to what it was before.
Chris
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